Bacteria Degradation of Plastic in an Ocean Environment 1

Literature Review

Anna Behrman

Harrison High School

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The goal of our project is to use bacteria to remove plastics from the ocean. Research was

done on bacteria that break down plastic in the ocean.

In “Microbial degradation of low-density polyethylene and synthesis of

polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers” the authors took powdered polyethylene and multiple bacteria

in a culture to see the difference in degradation speed. In “Surfing and dining on the

“plastisphere”: Microbial life on plastic marine debris” the authors, Quero and Luna (2017),

found that there are microorganisms at specific coastal ocean sites that have degradation genes.

The authors of “Properties of a Newly Identified Esterase from Bacillus sp. K91 and Its Novel

Function in Diisobutyl Phthalate Degradation” state that bacterium Bacillus contains a gene that

produces an enzyme that is able to degrade. It also could have a detoxification component.

“Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment

microcosms” by Harrison, et. al. (2014) found that certain bacteria in coastal environments are

able to quickly colonize microplastics. Lastly, in “Isolation and identification of low density

polythene-degrading bacteria from soil of North West of Algeria” the authors’ goal of their

research was to find a bacterium from North West Algeria that is similar to Bacillus Cereus.

They found that Bacillus wiedmannii and Bacillus proteolyticus were most similar with a match

of 99.394%.

All of the articles found, did research on the degrading of plastic. Quero and Luna and the

authors of “Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal

sediment microcosms” both did research on bacteria in coastal environments. They both found

bacteria that could help with the decrease in plastic pollution. The authors of “Microbial

degradation of low-density polyethylene and synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers” and

“Isolation and Identification of Low Density Polythene-Degrading Bacteria from Soil of North
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West of Algeria” both worked with polyethylene. “Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is a

thermoplastic polymer”, in other words, plastic. It was used in experiments and the researchers

tried different bacteria on it to see the different amounts of degradation (Zerhouni, Abbouni,

Kanoun, Larbi Daouadji, Tifrit, Benahmed, and Chaouche, 2018). Both “Surfing and dining on

the ‘plastisphere’: Microbial life on plastic marine debris” and “Isolation and identification of

low density polythene-degrading bacteria from soil of North West of Algeria” found that there

are microorganisms with degradation genes. Also, “Properties of a newly identified esterase from

Bacillus sp. K91 and its novel function in diisobutyl phthalate degradation” explains why the

article “Isolation and identification of low density polythene-degrading bacteria from soil of

North West of Algeria” uses the bacteria called Bacillus. It shows how the authors found that the

Bacillus has a gene for degradation.

While authors from both “Microbial degradation of low-density polyethylene and

synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers” and “Isolation and identification of low density

polythene-degrading bacteria from soil of North West of Algeria” used multiple bacteria on an

experiment of degradation speed, they did not have the same results. In, “Microbial Degradation

of Low-Density Polyethylene and Synthesis of Polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymers” the author was

trying different bacteria to see which would degrade the powdered polyethylene the fastest. The

article, “Isolation and Identification of Low Density Polythene-Degrading Bacteria from Soil of

North West of Algeria.” focused on figuring out which bacteria was most like Bacillus Cereus by

looking at the amount and speed of the degradation. The research by Harrison, et. al. (2014)

differs from the article by Quero and Luna (2017) in that Harrison, et. al. found that the bacteria

can rapidly colonize microplastics. This explains some of the increased amount of plastic found

in marine environments. Quero and Luna, found that many bacteria in marine environments
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actually have the gene for degradation. So, while these two sources are conflicting, if the

researchers work together with the information they obtained, the bacteria could be used to

degrade the colonizing plastic. The results from “Rapid bacterial colonization of low-density

polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms” show that “hydrocarbon-degrading

bacteria have also been discovered on plastic fragments”. This demonstrates that some bacteria

are already breaking down plastic on their own (Harrison, et. al., 2014).

This review was conducted to analyze the perspectives on bacteria that are able to

degrade plastic and how it is accomplished. Research was needed in order to understand the

process of bacteria degradation, why and how it happens. Further research is needed to examine

the process of plastic degradation by bacteria and how to make this happen in an ocean

environment. The allows for the developing of a procedure that will use bacteria to break down

plastic in an ocean environment.

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References

Ding, J., Wang, C., Xie, Z., Li, J., Yang, Y., Mu, Y., … Huang, Z. (2015). Properties of a Newly

Identified Esterase from Bacillus sp. K91 and Its Novel Function in Diisobutyl Phthalate

Degradation. PLoS ONE, 10(3), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119216

Harrison, J. P., Schratzberger, M., Sapp, M., & Osborn, A. M. (2014). Rapid bacterial

colonization of low-density polyethylene microplastics in coastal sediment microcosms.

BMC Microbiology, 14(1), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-014-0232-4

Montazer, Z., Habibi Najafi, M. B., & Levin, D. B. (2019). Microbial degradation of low-density

polyethylene and synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoate polymers. Canadian Journal of

Microbiology, 65(3), 224. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjm-2018-033

Quero, G. M., & Luna, G. M. (2017). Surfing and dining on the “plastisphere”: Microbial life on

plastic marine debris. Advances in Oceanography & Limnology, 8(2), 199–207.

https://doi.org/10.4081/aiol.2017.7211

Zerhouni, K., Abbouni, B., Kanoun, K., Larbi Daouadji, K., Tifrit, A., Benahmed, M., &

Chaouche, T. M. (2018). Isolation and identification of low density polythene-degrading

bacteria from soil of North West of Algeria. South Asian Journal of Experimental

Biology, 8(3), 76–82. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=135502879&site=ehos

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